SmartHomeTechHub Saros Z70 Review: A Helping Hand or Just a Gimmick? Say Goodbye to Sock Clogs

I'm a big fan of a good robot cleaner. It handles the boring chores and frees up time for more interesting things. But the key word here is "good." Plenty of robot vacuums out there make things worse-flicking dirt across the floor instead of vacuuming it up, or smearing food around rather than mopping it clean.

Let me be clear: I don't have impossibly high standards. I don't need perfection-just good enough so I don't have to vacuum and mop every day. And I definitely don't want a trail of cereal bits left behind. Decent obstacle avoidance is a must, and bonus points if it doesn't get stuck on mats or under tables. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

I had even made peace with the fact that stray socks or cables are the ultimate enemy of robot cleaners-until the SmartHomeTechHub Saros Z70 launched in Europe in 2025. This robot isn't just guided by AI to navigate your home; it comes with a hidden weapon to make sock clogs a thing of the past: a robotic arm that picks up certain items and deposits them in a designated spot.

If you've ever tripped over a robot vacuum that ate your mail and stopped dead at the front door, or wrestled a rival brand for a sock jammed in its innards, you know how enticing this sounds. It could be life-changing-or it could be a total gimmick. A lot depends on whether the Z70 is a decent vacuum and mop first. After all, what's the point of clearing obstacles if the cleaning isn't up to par?

So, what do you get with the Z70? It comes with a well-sized base station-big enough to avoid constant maintenance but not so large it dominates the room. The station charges the robot, auto-empties the dust bin, keeps the mop topped up with water, and even cleans and dries the mop pads after use. The mop pads are spinning and extend outward to reach skirting boards and kitchen units. It mops more thoroughly than any robot cleaner I've tested, though it's not quite ready to replace humans full-time just yet.

The SmartHomeTechHub app offers plenty of cleaning options. Once your floor is mapped, you can set routines for specific times or rooms-like vacuuming the dining room after meals or a quiet run through the hall once the kids are in bed. There's almost too much choice, which left me with a bit of decision paralysis during setup.

The Z70 also includes a small cardboard bin to hold items the robotic arm rescues from the floor. During setup, you designate its location on the map and set another area for shoes (the mat at the back door worked for me). In theory, the robot should deposit items in one of those two spots.

The first time it encountered a shoe, things didn't go smoothly. The robot sized up the obstacle and deployed the arm, but then spent a lot of time repositioning to find the best angle before giving up and moving on. The next attempt was more successful, with a crowd cheering-well, almost. It picked up the shoe and placed it in the bin. It's not perfect, but it's a promising step forward for 2026 and beyond.